How to Write a
"How Much Do I Love You?" or a
"How Much Don't I Love You?" Poem

by Bruce Lansky

Going into classrooms to write poems with kids, I've discovered
it's much easier to get them talking (and writing) about what
they DON'T like than about what they do like. That's why I wrote
a poem called "I Love You Not," in My
Dog Ate My Homework. I figure that poem might get more
use on Valentines Day than "I Love You a Whole Lot."

Either way your students want to go is fine with me, as long
as their poems are well written. Here's the model:

I Love You Not

I love you I love you
I love you so well,
If I had a skunk
I would give you a smell.

If I were a dog
I would give you a bite.
If I were a witch
I would give you a fright.

If I were a bathtub
I'd give you a splash.
If I were a fungus
I'd give you a rash.

I love you so much
that I won't tell a lie:
I promise we'll marry
the day that I die.